There used to be a third force, that of regional parties, acting as a pressure group or an option. But that force has been gobbled up partly by the Congress and partly by the BJP. Leaving the Left apart, the Congress feels that those who are not with it are against it. The same thinking prevails in the BJP. How do you arrive at some meeting point when the confrontation has taken ideological turn?

Things were not so bad until the BJP's defeat at the Lok Sabha polls. True, the Congress did not reconcile itself to the Atal Behari Vajpayee's rule so long as it lasted, and disrupted parliament many a time. But the party faced the fact of not being in power. The BJP is still not willing to accept this. Every act of it reflects hostility. It is nothing new. But the distance between the two has widened in the past decade, especially during the last six years when the BJP was in power at the centre.

The NDA still believes that it is only a matter of time before it will be in power. The BJP even gave currency to an astrology prediction that the Manmohan Singh government would not last beyond September 26. Even the tall party leaders indulged in such wishful thinking. Various permutations and combinations were vainly tried out. An emissary reportedly sounded DMK leader M Karunanidhi whether he would accept to be the prime minister with the support of the BJP.

Even if he were to cross over to the NDA, he cannot dislodge the government. Manmohan Singh was not bragging in Mumbai when he was saying that his ministry would last its full term of five years despite "tantrik tricks." So long as the Left is with the Congress, there is no danger to the government. However, some differences can crop up in 2006 when there will be a straight contest between the Congress and the Left during the assembly elections in Kerala and West Bengal.

At present the problem is about the functioning of parliament. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has called a meeting of all political parties on November 7 to discuss the smooth working of parliament. He has even asked vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekawat, a BJP prodigy, to preside over the meeting. But the vibes are not favourable. Many BJP members say that unless the Congress gives them "space" they would not allow parliament to function. They may well be right.

The BJP has practically not allowed parliament to transact any business since its formation in May. Once, the party created a rumpus on the ground that its members did not want to sit in the same house where the "tainted ministers" in the UPA government were present. The second time the issue raised was about the removal of Vir Savarkar's plaque from the Andaman jail where he was under life imprisonment before independence. Central minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had ordered the plaque's removal. This plaque was not that of the British days but the one put up during the BJP's rule. Both the BJP and the Congress have differed on the role of Vir Savarkar: in the eyes of the BJP he is a patriot but for the Congress he is a renegade.

Another controversy has arisen which may affect the next session of parliament in November. The BJP, egged on by former Defence Minister George Fernandes, may make the Tehelka tape inquiry an issue to stall the two houses. The party has already expressed its anger over the new twist the Congress government has given to the probe into irregularities in the country's defence deals after the Tehelka disclosures. The commission of inquiry headed by Justice S.N. Phukan has been wound up. Instead, the CBI has been entrusted with the job. This is, indeed, odd and the BJP has a point.

One can criticise the commission for not finishing the job even in three years. But the government is wrong in converting a judicial inquiry into a departmental one. After all, the CBI is under the Home Ministry. Former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly is right in voicing her doubts. The government's reasoning that the commission had been given too many extensions does not cut much ice. The Liberhan commission on the demolition of the Babri masjid has been going on and on for a decade now. The Nanavati commission on the 1984 Delhi riots has had several extensions. Why treat the commission probing the Tehelka tapes differently?

It really boils down to mistrust. The Congress views with suspicion anything that the BJP does and vice-versa. The real battleground is going to be the administration. After forming the government, The Congress has found to its horror that the BJP, with its parochial approach, has penetrated the Central Secretariat and other offices of the Government of India. Senior officials are saffronised and the rules of conduct have been flouted to accommodate even the whole time RSS workers. How does the Congress cleanse the stable is the problem. Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh says openly that there is no segment of education which is above the taint of communalism. He has already joined issue with the Sangh Parivar.

What is provoking the clash is the Congress plan to get rid of parivar's sympathisers, wherever they are. The first casualty was the removal of three state governors for their "ideological leanings." All other steps of the Congress froze in the tracks when the BJP created a furore over their dismissal. But it is only a pause. The new strategy is being worked out.

What really haunts the BJP is not the removal of some of its men but the fear that it may not come to power even after the next election. The parivar's Vishwa Hindu Parishad has tested the water and found that even the Ram temple issue does not evoke emotional response. Some Muslim hotheads are foolishly trying to resurrect Hindu fundamentalism by talking about the 25 per cent reservations in jobs. Any reservation on the basis of religion is bound to give another lease of life to Hindutva. Otherwise, the BJP has nothing else to project

Kuldip Nayar is an eminent Indian columnist.